Word: alaric
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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While the grape panic and apple scare merged in the public consciousness, they were actually quite different: the punctured-grapes incident was an example of Government action in the face of an intentional poisoning; Alar on apples was an instance of Government inaction following a scientific dispute over risk vs. benefit in the case of a particular chemical agent...
...Alar on apples, it turns out that 60 Minutes did not highlight the fact that only 5% of apple growers who account for the U.S. harvest spray with Alar. On Thursday three federal agencies responsible for food safety declared that apples are not dangerous to eat and that Alar is not an "imminent hazard" to children. Nonetheless, that same day Meryl Streep testified before a packed Senate Labor and Human Resources subcommittee hearing on Alar's use, "Even now, we don't know what's on our food . . . I no longer want my children to be part of this experiment...
...died. Others say it perpetuates the myth that life can be safe, although a look around at the filthy rivers, decrepit nuclear plants, air thick with pollution and tons of toxic wastes with no place to go shows that life is nothing of the sort. What the Alar alarm and the fruit furor do show is that certain risks -- those that are up close, personal and capable of capturing the public imagination -- make regulatory decisions politically easy. But while all the fuss was being made over the slight possibility that some fresh fruit had been poisoned, hundreds of other perils...
Critics complain that the EPA has no way to measure the combined impact of ingesting many different pesticides. "I may have Alar on my apples, lead arsenate on my grapefruit, captan on my vegetables," says Jay Feldman, national coordinator of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. "Alone, each of them may constitute a negligible risk. But when you add them up, the total toxic burden is too high...
...into testing if it hopes to bolster confidence in the wholesomeness of fruits and vegetables. The EPA will also have to review whether most pesticides serve an indispensable purpose. Between 60% and 80% of pesticides are used on produce primarily to enhance eye appeal by keeping fruits unblemished longer. Alar, for example, is sprayed on apples mainly to allow them to ripen slowly. Some consumers have begun to reject the perfect look. "I do not want food that has been overly sprayed, waxed or tampered with," declares Norma Quintana of Napa Valley, Calif. "If things look too manicured...